


To love a Phase Smith

by ShadowOfTheNight



Category: StarCraft (Video Games)
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, One Shot, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 06:18:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15237258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowOfTheNight/pseuds/ShadowOfTheNight
Summary: Artanis comes to terms with his feelings, and finally lets Karax know.





	To love a Phase Smith

**Author's Note:**

> I'm writing this because there's literally nothing for Karax/Artanis and I am shocked and saddened

The door slid closed and they were finally alone.  Artanis removed his helm with what his Terran friend Raynor would call a sigh, though he had not the lungs or mouth to make it.  “Friend Karax,” he said, his words filled with emotions he wanted to name, but didn’t quite understand.

“Yes, Hierarch?”  Karax used that word like a shield, Artanis noticed.  He held it between them as a reminder, though it was not a barrier to what he wanted.

“Relax, Karax.”  Artanis had never seen the other Protoss relax in any way.  He was always on his feet, always working. “Sit.”

“Of course, Hierarch.”  Karax sat on a chair near the sliding doors, his brows tight with worry.

“Karax, please call me by name,” Artanis’s thought voice was gentle, calming.  He did not want to spook Karax away before he has a chance to speak his mind.

Karax nodded, “Of course, Artanis.  My apologies. What did you need me for?”

Thoughts flickered through his mind so rapidly that he could not speak around them. “I wished to speak with you in private.  I have something I wanted to ask you. Several things, really.” Artanis paused to gather his wild thoughts again. “Now that we have reclaimed our home, abolished the caste system, and set ourselves upon the road to prosperity again… I have been putting some thought into family.”

Artanis felt a burst of emotional distress from Karax and clamped down on his own even as he watched parts of Karax’s crest mottle with pain. “I see.  Why did you bring this to me, Hierarch?”

“Karax,” Artanis’s own crest grew mottled with discomfort, “Please do not use my title as a wedge between us.  Here in this room, we are two Protoss. Two friends. And…” He let down his shielding for but a moment to give voice to all the thoughts and feelings he had for Karax.  He brought his psi shielding back before he overwhelmed the other Protoss. His hearts thundered in his chest as he waited to see how Karax would respond.

Karax fiddled with his prosthetic nerve cords before he cautiously lowered his own shielding and Artanis was hit with waves of longing, love, and fear. The emotional onslaught ended as abruptly as it had begun and Artanis swiftly crossed the room and placed himself forehead to forehead with Karax.  

“You need not fear, not while I am at your side.” He grasped Karax’s hand in his own.  “We can be together as one. The Khala is gone, but you can feel the depth of my care for you, can you not?”

“I can.”  Karax squeezed Artanis’s hand in his own, “I can feel your truth.  To be honest, I was afraid of what our people would say, a Phase Smith and a Templar-”

“Two Templar.” Artanis corrected him.  “You are a Templar just as assuredly as I am, though you are also a Phase Smith.”

A burst of joy slipped through and Karax and he reached up to caress Artanis’s crest with his other hand.  “Then we will go through this together. As Templar,” another burst of joy, “As family.”


End file.
